The immediate problem of climate change effects on future generations make low carbon solutions today an imperative. In the United States approximately 40% of greenhouse gas (GHG) pollutants are associated with our buildings, with 93% of these GHGs being created through the lifetime operations of the building through energy use intensity. With such a large percentage of GHG created through our buildings combined with the fact that it is not atypical for a building to have life expectancy of 100 years or more it follows that the creation of net zero low energy buildings is a necessity now. We have the knowledge and experience to create buildings today that use 70% less energy than current code requires, prior to any site generation being added. The problem today is that in the absence of the legislative will to mandate this change, market rate solutions are the only viable way to deliver these buildings today. The inventions described here represent this market-rate solution.
Previous attempts at making such market rate solutions have suffered from several problems including:                lacking affordability;        boutique status because the products are too foreign for most builders and consumers to adopt in a wide manner;        lack of a comprehensive systematized methodology of design, testing and performance;        lack of a simple strategy that mitigates thermal bridges, creates an air tight envelope; and uses high performance transparent components;        lack of building physics support of low energy strategies; and        simplicity of design, installation and use.        